Snapshot of training since October, with commentary

For folks reading since I've started training with power, a quick introduction. I'm a US Marine stationed in Japan. I took up cycling "recreationally" in the 1999/2000 time frame after I'd put on quite a bit of weight. For the next few years I rode a hardtail MTB back and forth to work 4.7 miles each way with some extra distance added on one or two days a week. 6 months after starting this and with a change in lifestyle/diet I was back in good shape and had dropped 30 lbs (down to 190 from 222).

The next couple years involved me doing a lot of time deploying so cycling became a fun thing to do with little time to do it, more running than cycling during this time. I moved to San Diego and had a chance to do quite a bit of MTB riding while there. But when I moved to Japan I found that the MTB riding in my area is pretty slim pickings. So I made the jump to road biking. In June 2005 I ordered my Specialized Roubaix (as new).

I received the Roubaix in July and by December I'd put 2850 kilometers on the bike and decided to spend the next year training. I set some distance goals (10000 km for the year - actual 2006 mileage was 15,073 km) and got a heart rate monitor and just sorta "rode lots." I took part in a few organized events and did well enough. By the end of the summer I was placing top 10 in local events. I finished 3rd in a local 40km road race, 11th in a road race a few hours away, and had the fastest bike time in a team triathlon relay event. I begin thinking, hmmm... I might be able to get really good at this. I did some research and committed to buying a Powertap SL and made the plans to get better.

Here starts the narration of the Performance Management Chart:


I use a designed MS Excel spreadsheet for most of my PMC work. Mostly because I can mark it up and change things easily, as well as plan out a few weeks in advance what I expect my ATL/CTL/TSB to be based on previous workouts. It also allows me to play with other numbers inside my training, as I'll get to later.



I started the season off and defined my goals. I defined my start to the CTL/ATL based on training numbers I had from last year and got to work. I gave myself an FTP of 320 based on my only race file I had and a perceived exertion rating. For the first month I just experimented with different training plans and styles. I had a plan to do the Zenitsuboyama Hill Climb TT in November, but we got rained out. I did set a new personal best of just under 29 minutes later that day - and this by mostly just shooting in the dark and grabbing around training plans for workouts on a 10-11 hrs per week of riding.

December I was invited to a hill climb event during which I clipped a pedal and separated my shoulder. I still placed 9th, 5 minutes off the lead, 3 minutes off the bike.

For the rest of December and January I worked with a pre-built training plan from Hunter Allen focusing on threshold improvement and a personal plan to peak in May for Kunisaki. At the end of the day I was doing a lot of miles and personally focusing on endurance time, that whole "base period" methodology. I made the switch during this time from 5 to 6 days per week of training with 1 day off. December was my first ever 1000+ mile month. I did the Zenitsuboyama Hill Climb course on Jan 1st and set a PB in time and power - though later found out the PT was miscalibrated on the climb, so the power numbers aren't necessarily valid.

At the end of January I dropped the Allen/Coggan zones and training plan for a Ric Stern method. I took a rest week and got to testing. My first MAP test on Jan 19th was a dry run for the MAP test to be done in a couple weeks. It definitely takes some getting a feel for, and I wouldn't recommend anyone take their first ever MAP test numbers as gospel.

Test week came and I blew away all previous times/power numbers on Zenitsuboyama for 20 minute power. I followed this up with a more routine MAP test that also blew away previous numbers. Proof positive here for the coming positive on the TSB scale - which I'd done for the first time in two months. New FTP was defined as 345, and training zones changed to reflect numbers based on MAP as defined over at Ric Stern's web site: http://www.cyclecoach.com

February was a routine training month, getting used to the new training plan and style. Still primarily working base/endurance period training and a lot of time on the bike. My CTL flattened for February and March - I think because I was under-estimating my FTP before the MAP test. Underestimating your threshold will inflate your TSS values and skew all of your numbers.

This highlights one of the lessons learned on training with power. If you're going to go so far as using the performance manager concepts, you have to be doing things accurately. I personally found MAP testing to be an extremely accurate, quick, and simple method to gauge FTP. I was able to confirm my zones using the 20 minute power and Monod's Critical Power methods accurately and it just reinforced the usage of MAP testing for me.

I came off the gas a little bit to taper for the West Japan Championships Road Race. If nothing else the course provides awesome training opportunities for hill climbing. I pre-rode the course twice and was pretty pleased with sticking with the decisive breakaway for 8th place. An epic ride the next week plummeted the TSB before coming off the gas for the Kirarahama Criterium/TT. Once again I was pretty pleased with the results but mostly ready to finish the peak for Kunisaki.

The build period was just that. Lots of endurance training with greater distance and some extremely difficult intervals back to back and I was peaking out my CTL at just over 128. I also found during this time what I've come to associate as my "Three days of pain" breaking point. On my excel chart it's my column between Weight and TSS. Looking back over the season's data and log files, I've found that when my 7 day average TSS is over 135 for more than three days, I start to see it in my perceived exertion. It's not something I'm holding to tried and true and I don't intend to change training plans based on that number, but it's something I will be aware of. When I get to 4, 5 and 6 days over this limit, it definitely started to show.

I was especially ready for tapering into May and some good racing. Kunisaki raced spot on for the goals. I felt good the whole race and was happy to make 5th place ( top 10 was the goal ). For the rest of this month I've pretty much sat at positive TSB between races. I followed my performance at Kunisaki with a worthy solo-off-the-front win at Mominoki and a blisteringly painful win yesterday in the Cannonball 250km race.

So where do we go from here.....

First, retest. This coming week is rest/recovery followed by a week of testing. I'm a steady 76-77 kg down from 78-79 kg in February.

I did Zenitsuboyama this month in a blistering 27:08. Sub 27-minutes will put me in top 3 category for later this year. Sub 26 will contend me for victory. My goal for the year was sub 27, but with that time just around the corner, I'm training for victory.

I'm shooting for a MAP of 470+ on test day. That's a simple 4-5% increase, right?

"A" Races on the calendar don't arrive until Sept/October:

September - Team Relay Triathlon (for me, 40 km TT - goal to be sub 1-hour)
October - Okayama Int'l Circuit - 2 hrs, goal to podium (last year 11th)
October - Iwakuni 40km Road Race - Last year 3rd, this year for the win
November - Zenitsuboyama Hill Climb TT, now goal of sub 26 minutes

Looking forward to the reset in training and focusing on new goals. This is the broad stroke of how the season went. In a couple days I'll have a "lessons learned" blog post to fill up the space since rest weeks don't provide much valuable blogging space.